


Free Will

by captainredscarf



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Accidental Bonding, Arranged Marriage, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Mating Rituals, Miscommunication, Pon Farr, Unrequited Love, at least for a while, post STID, space babies in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-18
Updated: 2014-04-16
Packaged: 2018-01-16 05:54:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1334485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainredscarf/pseuds/captainredscarf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Spock is called home to continue the species, his fellow crewmen are less than overjoyed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Jim

(Jim)

James T. Kirk yawned, scrolling through a dozen messages on his PADD that he'd yet to read. An ensign asking for reassignment, a request for more warp plasma, a memo regarding a fancy admiral's retirement. He scrolled aimlessly through them, humming timelessly to himself when a beeping signified a visitor to his quarters. 

"Come in," he said, grateful for the distraction. "Spock. What's up?"

"Captain."

"Funny, Spock, I didn't realize that this was the bridge," Jim said, rolling his eyes. 

"We are in your quarters," Spock replied. 

"Oh, are we? Good, then you can call me Jim."

"Very well. Jim," Spock added. 

"Now, what can I do ya for?"

Spock hesitated, diverting his gaze to a seemingly random spot on the wall. 

"It is....of a rather personal manner...." Spock shifted his weight in a remarkable impression of a human feeling awkward. 

"Personal, uh oh. What is it? Dating advice? Did Uhura-"

Spock flinched visibly, cutting Jim off suddenly. 

"Shit, Spock, what happened?"

"Nyota and I have terminated our romantic involvement."

"Is that what this is about? Damn, Spock, that really sucks."

"May I sit, Capt- Jim?"

"Oh. Oh yeah, go ahead."

"Relating to the personal matter I had previously alluded...." Jim mentally cursed himself. It was clear that he was treading upon a still-bruised subject matter. 

"Right. Sorry. What did you need?"

"I must request an extended leave of absence."

Jim blinked. "Spock, are you sure that running away from.... Are you sure that you're being sensible here?"

Spock fixed him with an intense and unreadable gaze. 

"I cannot divulge the nature of my requirements, only that it has nothing to do with Nyota and our former involvement."

"Spock, I just got a request from a twenty-three year old ensign down in engineering to transfer away because she broke up with her girlfriend, and I see no reason to grant her her request. Why should I allow you to leave the ship so that you can mope when-"

"Vulcans do not mope, Captain."

"Then enlighten me. What's so damn important that I have to let my first officer go gallivanting off to wherever the hell-"

"New Vulcan."

"-to New Vulcan over a broken heart, when this is the exact reason fraternization is prohibited among officers."

Jim knew he was being cruel, but Spock was putting him in an awkward position. He had to keep his crew together no matter the cost, he had proven that by dying for them at the hands of Khan. He couldn't afford to play favorites among his crew, and above that- he didn't want to see Spock go. 

"I....I did not wish to have to go into detail, but I am afraid that eluding total divulgence in this matter can only serve to widen the rift of truth. I must go to New Vulcan not of my own volition, but out of a sense of duty towards my own people."

Jim shifted in his seat. Wow, he had been a dick. 

"Spock...."

"Furthermore, though I previously believed you had not illicitly condoned or disallowed my relationship with Miss Uhura, it was terminated only because of the summons I have received from my planet, and is therefore not the causation of my request."

"But why do you need to go back to New Vulcan? I thought the Ambassador had stayed on so that you could continue your explorations with Starfleet?"

"The Ambassador also thinks it prudent for me to return."

"But why now? What do you need to do there?"

Spock stared at his hands, breathing calculatedly and frowning. 

"When Vulcans are young, they are chosen a mate based on mental and physical compatibility and a link, if you will, is created between the betrothed children."

Spock looked away, his gaze clouded with something dark. 

"Go on."

"I was paired with a female by the name of T'Pring, our families longtime allies and associates. As the son of an ambassador, I was highly sought after by potential pairs and their families due to the influence such a match would bring to them. 

"But because of my mixed heritage, the potential bondmates were not as keen to establish the bond. Mate after mate refused to link with me, until finally T'Pring, my initial fiancée, if you will, relented and deigned to establish a link. But it was already several months later than what should have been the time of our linking, and the bond was weak. I could feel her dissatisfaction ebbing at the ends of the bond."

"That's terrible, Spock," Jim said, imagining the pain such rejection must have caused a young child yet untrained in the ways of emotion suppression. 

"It is no matter now. Around the time I was preparing to leave for Starfleet, a male T'Pring preferred over myself since childhood came to the time of mating and chose her as a mate, effectively severing whatever agreements made by T'Pring and I in terms of our marriage. 

"My inability to retain a mate added insult to injury when I left, but it also left me free to pursue a relationship of my own choosing."

"Uhura."

"Yes."

"So, why does this matter now?"

"When I left Vulcan, I had no idea that the planet was to be destroyed."

"Of course you didn't, Spock, no one could have known."

"T'Pring, her mate, and their young son all perished upon its destruction, and although we were never friends I regret very much their fate. But the Vulcan race needs new children, and I have been convinced to return to the homeworld and perpetuate the species."

Jim had to take a minute to slowly let that information sink in. 

"So....you're saying....you have to go knock someone up?"

Spock furrowed his eyebrows. 

"If that is a crude human euphemism for impregnation, then yes, I am, as you so succinctly put it, required to knock someone up. Her name is T'Paleth, and I am told by my father and my older counterpart that she is an adequate match."

"You're saying that they're making you break up with the one you love, the one you chose of your own accord, so you could go back and be the baby daddy to some chick you have never even met yet?" Jim said incredulously. 

"It would be selfish of me to abstain from producing offspring in light of recent events, and to have children with Nyota would not only jeopardize her career within Starfleet but create a children only one quarter Vulcan, which would do little to continue the bloodlines of my people."

"But....you love her," Jim said. 

"Love is irrelevant."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T'Pring was Spock's intended in TOS. They didn't hook up.


	2. Bones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He knows, of course, that Spock is an alien, it's just sometimes he forgets that aliens aren't human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! Thanks for all the reviews and kudoses (kudos? kudosi? kudae?). They make my day!

Leonard McCoy recoiled, blinking down at his PADD in disbelief. 

Spock was going through what now?

_Pon Farr: A Time Of Chaos_ the document's title read. 

It didn't get much better from there. Basically Spock was about to go into heat and if he didn't have a wild hoodoo mind melded sex spree he'd die. Well then. It's always the quiet ones, he thought. 

But it wasn't only the document's contents that were weirding Bones out, it was the context. Spock wanted Jim- Jim was understandable, Jim was his friend, for some reason god didn't even know- and he, Leonard McCoy, to accompany him to the special ceremony where Spock would be presented with his mate to the tune of some crazy goblin instruments and then proceed to disappear into a room and fuck the living daylights out of her for three or four days in a frenzy of feverish hormones. Which brought up a whole slew of mental images that Bones really really did not want to think about. 

Oh, and there was the fact that Spock wasn't even anywhere near his heat, and wanted it to be synthetically brought about. Which of course, just of freakin' course, he couldn't go and ask the Hobgoblin High Council for, he had to go and make poor ol' Bonesy himself do. 

Bones sighed in exasperation as he grabbed his communicator. 

A half an hour later, Jim was walking into sickbay looking as concerned as McCoy was disgruntled. 

"I take it you heard about this Vulcan breeding program too?" Jim said with no preamble, without even so much as a 'hi, Bones, how goes it?'

"I'm great today, Jim, thanks for asking," Bones said with a roll of the eyes. Jim had the graces to look at least a little sheepish but in the end concern for the ship's green veined first officer won over. 

"They're not even letting him choose who he breeds with," Jim said. 

"Well, that's a crock of shit."

"I just spoke to him. He's in my quarters meditating right now. He's pretty broken up over it, though of course he won't show it. He said 'love is irrelevant and proceeded to stare out the window for several minutes until I asked him if he was okay and he jumped and asked my permission to meditate. Well, scratch that, he didn't so much ask my permission as he did inform me that he was going to meditate. Then you commed me. Truth is, I'm worried about him. He chose Uhura because he loves her, and this is his first real break-up."

"Why is he just letting it happen? Seems to me there ain't too many people who can tell that bastard what to do if he don't want to do it."

"He said something about his elderly counterpart and his father choosing T'Paleth for him-"

"T'Paleth?"

"That's the Vulcan he's s'posed to get freaky with, apparently."

"So since when is he listening to daddy?"

"I think it's probably got more to do with the wisdom of his elderly self than his father."

"Can't his geezer self tell that it'll make him miserable?" Bones himself was starting to feel bad for the poor son-of-a-bitch!

"Huh," Jim said thoughtfully, furrowing his eyebrows. "When I met the elder Spock, he always seemed even more sensible about emotions than my Spock- our Spock."

"Well, why don't we give him a call?" Bones asked, ignoring the obvious slip up. 

"Good idea," Jim said. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"I don't know. Now here's the real question: do we let Spock Junior join us for the conversation?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The phrase 'crock of shit' makes me laugh so much u don't even know


	3. Nyota

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nyota overhears something regarding her most recent paramour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter brought to you by the letter M

Nyota Uhura looked around her quarters. It was strange. Technically they'd always been hers, but she had slept in Spock's more often than her own during the part of their relationship that had gone well. If any of it could be called well. 

Her quarters seemed empty as she set the box of her things on the dresser, the personal effects she had collected from the First Officer's quarters. A uniform or three, a necklace, some novels, a pair of undergarments, a toothbrush, even a box of tampons she had squirreled away under his sink and he pretended not to notice. 

This was the box containing her splintered relationship with him. 

He'd been as close to crying as she'd ever seen him since Kirk died the night he got the transmission from his father. The older Vulcan had made good points; impeccable ones, in fact, so impeccable that Nyota felt like a disgusting tumor attached to the man's son. With so few Vulcans left, how could he settle for a Terran?

The worst part of it all was that Spock had given in so quietly. Sure there was a little argument, but in the end he hadn't fought for her as much as she would have liked. 

She should have seen it coming. 

They had gotten together in the wake of his planet's destruction, after all, and even if he felt anything for her in that carefully controlled mind of his, who could say if it was little more than someone to cling to out of comfort? And if he had been getting together with her because he felt lonely, he never would have realized it let alone admitted it to himself. Therefore it would be impossible for him to sever their involvement because he knew that she was a proxy. Anyone might have been able to stand in for her- for the planet Vulcan and the loss of his mother. 

And Kirk. Spock was so attached to him that it was frightening. If Spock was upset after Vulcan's destruction, he was livid when the captain died. 

And when he came back, that was when she really should have known their relationship was a lost cause. His eyes lit up seeing Kirk like they had never lit up upon catching sight of her- not even after the ill-fated volcano mission where he almost died. 

"You can go," she had said, after Spock's transmission with his father had ended and he sat staring at the screen for several minutes. He had jumped, startled, obviously forgetting that she had been in his quarters the entire time. 

"Nyota. I trust you heard my father's request?"

Nyota had only resisted snapping at him that of course she had, she did speak perfect Standard after all, but had stopped at the shell shocked look that had been painted across his normally perfectly composed features. 

"I did."

Spock hadn't responded. 

"Look, Spock, you need to go," she had urged gently. 

Now, she shivered to herself as she unpacked the box. It was late at night and she couldn't sleep. She decided to head down to sickbay so that she could perhaps get a muscle relaxing hypospray. At the very least, the walk might help her clear her mind. 

Captain Kirk was already there, engaged in a heated debate with Doctor McCoy. 

".....He obviously doesn't want to, Bones, I mean you should have seen him! He was so cold and vacant, like-"

"He's always cold and vacant! He's a Vulcan, for Christ's sake, Jim! That's what got him into this mess!"

Word traveled fast then. Nyota blinked. 

"Damn it, Bones, how can you just be okay with this? It's wrong!"

"Jim, I know I call him a hobgoblin and things like that so much you've just started ignoring it, but the truth is that he's a damned alien! He may look and sound like a human, albeit a weird-ass one, but at the end of the day he's not! His blood is green! He can read your mind just by touching your skin!" McCoy sighed. "So if he has to go upstream to spawn, like countless generations of his ancestors, who the hell are you to stop it?"

"I'm his friend, Bones, I-"

"Or is there some other reason you don't want him Vulcan married to this T'Paleth chick?"

T'Paleth. So that was her name. Nyota frowned, but didn't let her presence be known yet. 

Kirk didn't have a response to that, he just stood gaping at his CMO, mouth quietly opening and closing in shock. McCoy slumped his shoulders. 

"Look, Jim, I'm your friend. I know that you-"

"I just want to see him happy! Do you know how rare it is for a Vulcan to choose their own mate? He chose Uhura, and I'm not going to let him throw away his happiness and love for some chick he's never even laid eyes on!"

"Miss Uhura isn't-"

Nope. They weren't going to be talking about her. Nyota cleared her throat and stepped out of her concealed spot. 

"I see Spock has told you both of his decision," she said calmly. Both men broke apart guiltily and looked at each other. 

"Um-"

"No! I mean yes! I mean....."

"Stuff it, Kirk, it's okay. Really."

"Uhura, you have to be crazy, just letting him go like this! He's-"

"Don't tell me who to date, Captain."

"Finally, someone around here with common sense," McCoy said. 

"Shut it," Nyota said. McCoy closed his mouth immediately. "Both of you. I may not approve of him going along with this preposterous endangered species breeding plan thing, but the two of us are over anyway."

"Help us talk to Spock," the captain blurted. "The old Spock. Parallel universe Spock," he hastily added as Nyota raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow at him. "At least help us get a feel for what's going on. We ca find out what the old Spock did, who he hooked up with."

"Do not use the phrases 'old Spock' and 'hooked up' in conjunction ever again, please, Jim," Dr. McCoy said in horror, face aghast, and Nyota chuckled despite herself. 

"Okay. I'd like to get a few answers too."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos and whatnot! It really makes my day!


	4. Spock Prime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bones, Jim, and Nyota call an old friend, as it were.....

Ambassador Spock was not surprised when he received a transmission from the USS Enterprise. In light of his father of this world's decision, it was only logical that his younger counterpart would seek council. He would have to let his young self down gently, as their fates were already so different from one another. He himself had never even heard of the female named T'Paleth, let alone bonded to her. He was, as his friend Jim might have said, flying blind through the situation. 

He opened the link, and was vaguely surprised at the fact that it was not his younger self looking through to him, but the young Kirk, the young McCoy, and, of all people, the lovely Nyota Uhura. Ah, yes, the romantic attachment of this world's Spock. Of course she would be concerned. 

"Jim. Doctor McCoy. Miss Uhura," he greeted, nodding at each of them in turn. He felt the familiar sense of- what did humans call it? Ah, yes, deja vu- at seeing them so young. They all looked so similar to the ones he had known and loved- excepting, of course, the hairstyle of Nyota. The human female of his day had preferred a short, curled bob. "I trust all is well aboard the Enterprise?"

"The ship's fine, sir," Kirk said. The Ambassador refrained from frowning at the strange sound of being addressed as 'sir' by his superior officer. 

"I can only assume, then, that you wish to seek answers regarding your own Spock's recent....engagement," he said carefully. "Miss Uhura. Nyota, if I may?"

"Of course, sir," she said. The Ambassador had forgotten how much he had liked her counterpart and was sad that he had never voiced his appreciation of her character. 

"Why are you making him do this?" Jim asked and Spock smiled minutely. How very like Jim. 

"You may recall my promise to never alter his destiny," he said. "But before you object, I must tell you about my own crew mates aboard the USS Enterprise. 

"Doctor McCoy, you remain largely the same as your counterpart. It is....refreshing. I can only assume you and Officer Spock do not see eye to eye on many if not all things, but I must tell you he values your input immensely. 

"Nyota. I find you, and have always found you, to be a remarkable woman and an exemplary human being, though it is still rather unsettling seeing you with straight hair." Spock paused and smiled. "You never bothered to straighten it aboard my own Jim's Enterprise, and I believe you would be equally as stunning if you ever decide to wear it naturally. 

"However, Nyota, I fear I cannot give you the answers you seek regarding my counterpart's pairing with this T'Paleth. Though I considered myself to be a friend of the other Uhura we never became romantically involved. If anything she would have preferred the Captain to me."

The Ambassador was momentarily bemused by the grin Jim began to sport at that. Nyota shot him a scowl. 

"Did they ever hook up?" Jim asked mirthfully. 

"I do not believe so, but I do know that they kissed once."

"Ha ha ha!" Jim said triumphantly, earning him a smack over the head from Nyota. He grinned innocently at her and Dr. McCoy rolled his eyes. 

The Ambassador allowed himself a moment of longing for his own crew. 

"Damn it, guys, we're here for a reason!" Dr. McCoy exclaimed and shoved his way between them. 

"Right. So, if Spock and I were never an item among your experiences, is that sufficient enough reason to believe that we were not, perhaps, really meant to be together?" Nyota asked calmly. 

"You have ended your relationship?" The Ambassador Spock asked, keeping his tone neutral. He had known early on that his younger doppelgänger hadn't been right for her but chose to allow him to learn to think logically before jumping into such relations in the future. 

Of course, T'Paleth and the nature of an arranged marriage, though on the surface making sense, would be exactly that: jumping without careful consideration. 

But the young Spock must be allowed to make his own paths, thought the Ambassador Spock, looking carefully at Nyota. 

"We ended it mutually," Nyota said, breaking him out of his thoughts. 

Jim and Bones looked dubious but said nothing. 

"It is not my wish to upset you, Miss Nyota, but I do not believe either he or you would have flourished in each other's hearts."

"If you'll excuse me, gentlemen," said Nyota, nodding at the three males, obviously having gotten the answer she sought. "I would like to retire to my quarters. McCoy, would you mind accompanying me to the exam room? I was wondering about some sleep aids...."

As the two wandered off of the screen to aid Miss Uhura's sleep, the Ambassador Spock was left alone with the young Jim. 

"You are so familiar, James, yet so different to the captain I knew," he mused. "Many of the mannerisms remain, but you are so....spirited. Perhaps the Captain Kirk known to me was at your age the same. I can only hope that this reality bears better fruit for you than the old."

"All that vaguely disconcerting stuff aside," Jim said, "I want to know what you think would be best for you. Other-you."

The Ambassador Spock sighed as deeply as his Vulcan physiology would allow for. 

"What his father says is right. The race of Vulcan cannot afford at this time to allow those entering adulthood to go without breeding."

Jim frowned. 

"I just wish....." Kirk trailed off. 

"As his direct superior, you have the most formal influence over him, and as his primary friend, the most informal and profound. He respects you immensely, no latter how little he may show it. I believe I cannot show him the way at this point. It is all I can ask that you stand by whatever decision he makes. And remember that his father and myself are available to remain on New Vulcan with T'Paleth and the child should he go through with it, allowing him to continue his journeys."

"But what if he were to have a child with Uhu- with a human woman?"

"A child with only one Vulcan grandparent would likely take after the human part of the family and therefore do nothing to propagate the species. 

"Oh, and Jim?"

"Yeah?"

"Spock is not the first Vulcan-Human hybrid in this world."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehehehehe.........


	5. Jim (II)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jim makes a call as to inquire the fate of another hybrid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T'Pol is a real, canon character in be Star Trek universe from the Enterprise show. T'Pera is not. I gratuitously stole her name from the Voyager episode. She's the holographic Vulcan fabricated because Vorik had no one to go through the pon farr with.

Jim 

The captain blinked at the screen in surprise. 

"What?"

"I said, Spock is not the first of this world to be of two worlds."

"Who else?" Jim demanded. This could be huge for Spock. "Are they still alive?"

"She is the daughter of one of the first Vulcans to join Starfleet and a human male officer. Her name is T'Pera and she lives on Earth with her mother, T'Pol. As Spock chose to immerse himself in the culture he was raised in, so did T'Pera. She takes after her father and has had several surgeries in order to fit in among her peers. In my world, I was the first."

"How is this supposed to help Spock, then?"

"You might try talking to T'Pol. She is very elderly now, but was quite an esteemed officer in her day. She may be able to give unbiased advice where I cannot."

"We're pretty close to Earth right now. I think I'll talk to her."

Jim echoed the traditional Vulcan salute as they signed off. He was no closer to acquiring answers as he had been. If anything, he was even more confused. 

Saying a quick farewell to Bones, he made his way back to his quarters, relieved to note that Spock had left. Grunting, he sat down at his desk, firing up his PADD and entering his vocal codes to unlock it. He began to read up on T'Pol. 

T'Pol was a female Vulcan- very pretty, according to the pictures on her personnel file- who had joined a mission as a temporary officer under Captain Archer but stayed on. The reason given was listed as 'an interest in the further accomplishments of the crew and its discoveries'. Jim spoke Vulcan babble well enough to know that it meant she liked them. She'd stayed on for several years. There were logs and mission reports showing what had gone on. Then, a marriage license to another crewman he had seen mentioned elsewhere in the reports, and then a birth certificate hand in hand with two matching letters of resignation. 

It was easy enough to read between the glowing lines: T'Pol had joined, stayed, fallen in love, gotten married, had a baby, and she and her love had retired. 

The last document Jim found was a death certificate several decades after the resignations. The human had died at a reasonable age, but T'Pol would have still been a young-ish adult by Vulcan standards. Kirk remembered with a jolt that Vulcans lived on average over twice as long as even the most elderly humans. Amanda Grayson would have died far before her husband and son, and Spock far after all of his human friends, Nyota included. It seemed like pairings between Vulcans and humans were just recipes for heartbreak. 

Maybe their breakup was for the better. Nyota would find someone she could grow old with, same as Spock. 

Jim sighed, looking back at the spot where Spock had been sitting an hour or two ago. He'd talk with T'Pol and then decide. 

 

~~~

T'Pol was old. 

"Starfleet," she said resignedly as soon as she opened the video stream. 

"Good evening, ma'am, I hope I didn't wake you," Jim said. 

"Not at all. I was merely meditating."

"I assure you that I would not disturb you if it wasn't important," Jim assured her. 

"You are the captain of the Enterprise," T'Pol said mildly. "It is one comm I would accept no matter what time of the day."

"I understand you served on the Enterprise once," he said. 

"Yes. I am the only part of the crew still alive."

"My condolences," Jim said. He couldn't even begin to imagine how much it would suck if he outlived all of his crewmen. 

"Knowing them all was worth the loss," T'Pol said matter-of-factly. 

"I have a Vulcan on my crew. Well, more than one, but the one I'm talking about, Spock-"

"Your first officer."

"Yes, how-"

"The Enterprise has always been an interest of mine. And you have not exactly kept a low profile."

"Of course," Jim said. "Listen. This is probably really personal, but-"

"You wish to inquire about T'Pera."

"Yes."

"My daughter..... T'Pera takes after her father. She goes by a human nickname and her father's last name."

"Does she have children?" Jim asked. 

"She and her partner, a human female, cannot create biological children together. They have adopted a young human."

"Thank you," Jim said. He couldn't help but feel disappointed. 

"Tell Spock to follow his heart. It is not logical to do anything else."


	6. Keenser

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keenser is my favorite thing in the world kbye

When Mr. Scott was annoyed, it was often Keenser who bore the brunt of it. 

"....That mad bastard...." Mr. Scott was saying. Keenser nodded in agreement. ".....changing course in the middle of the bloody trip..... Straight to New Vulcan! I cannae believe it! That's a three and a half day detour....." 

Keenser nodded in sympathy as he checked the readings on the monitor before him. 

"And I dinnae buy it for a minute. Some excuse about a dignitary meeting..... Oy, watch where you're putting that thing, ya bastard!"

Keenser went to Mr. Scott's desk and silently handed him the flask of scotch he kept hidden there for occasions like this one.


	7. Spock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spock stumbles across some things that have been not-so-artfully hidden from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I have been sick as a dog. Which is an idiom I really don't understand. SO, without further ado....

Spock scrolled through his PADD aimlessly, tying his best to ignore his wandering thoughts. It was unlike him to be so distractable, but to be fair he had a multitude of things to process. Maybe throwing all of his focus into a task he normally would have delegated to at most an ensign. 

Ah, this seemed fruitful. Tedious, yet time consuming. There were several complaints filed recently to Engineering that regarded interrupted transmissions to nearby planets. Personal transmissions were being cut for no reason and the computers were having trouble patching calls through to the correct source. For example, an Ensign Daely from the night bridge crew had tried to contact his sister only to find that his call had been routed to a hotline that was meant for homosexual Andorian females to engage in.... auspicious interactions anonymously. Spock could see why this might be a problem. What was that human saying? Yes, if you wanted something done right, you had to do it yourself. 

Spock stood up, pocketing his PADD, and headed down to Engineering. 

“Mr. Scott,” he said in greeting to the human male when he arrived. “Mr. Keenser.”

“Ah! Hello there, sir,” Mr. Scott said. Spock briefly pondered the fact that the engineer hailed from a land that sported the same designation as his surname. It was very strange. He was also quite fond of a beverage of similar etymology. It seemed Standard could do with some revision.

“I am here to take a look at the video transmission system,” Spock said. 

“Ain't that a wee below your pay grade?” Mr. Scott asked.

“I wish to ensure the proper undertaking of the task at hand due to a very...... unfortunate mishap brought to my attention by Ensign Daely-”

“Yes, the Andorian Incident, as we've started calling it. Poor lad.”

“Indeed. I wanted to be absolutely certain that nothing of the sort transpires again.”

“Well, you can get access to everything ya need right here. If ya need any assistance, just grab me or Keenser.”

“Understood.”

Spock started by having the computer compile a list of all of the faulty transmissions- Ensign Daely's unfortunate Andorian mishap, a yeoman who accidentally placed an order for five thousand old-fashioned bricks, and one ensign's call to another that didn't go through for several hours- when it connected automatically, the recipient (male) ensign was dressed in nothing but ladies' underwear. Nothing that would be classified as disastrous, but definitely humiliating and therefore detrimental to crew morale.

Then, so that he would be able to compare the working transmissions with the faulty ones, he decided to compile a list of every transmission made within the last forty eight hours.

There, nestled subtly among them, was a transmission that puzzled Spock immensely- sickbay to his elderly counterpart, authorized by the captain himself. His fingers skimmed over the buttons of his PADD and he found out that the computer had recognized Jim's voice along with Spock's, and- puzzlingly, Nyota's and Dr. McCoy's. 

Spock looked around to make sure that the Engineering crew members were all occupied and thus not paying attention before he spoke.

“Computer, play security footage starting five minutes before transmission Sickbay-alpha-Spock-five,” he demanded, watching as proof of his friends' meddling unfolded before his eyes.  


**Author's Note:**

> T'Pring was Spock's intended in TOS. They didn't hook up.


End file.
